A night like this
by GraceBe
Summary: Strauss, Gideon and Rossi relive some old memories... Last chapter added. Part 1 of the "Three's a crowd" series.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't know anything... but I would love to. Thanks to Cora Emerald, whose great song „A night like this" inspired this story. I owe you one ;-) _

_Beware, the rating could change sooner or later... ;-)  
_

**A night like this - A reunion of sorts **

The rising sun was torturing his face mercilessly, forced him to open his eyes and face the day. In general, there was nothing wrong with sun in the morning, but today his head hurt like hell and he felt sick. Actually, sicker than ever and he couldn't move. Trying to find out where he was and especially why he opened his eyes. Okay, there was sun and he was apparently far away from home. He heard the soft movement of water that hit a shore and though it fucking hurt, he lifted his head – and saw nothing but the blue sky.

"Damn it."

The air was fresh, he lifted his wrist and realized why it was cold. It was just about 6 a m. Pushing his investigation a little further, he looked down on himself and detected the reason for his inability to move. A blond woman had wrapped her arm around his chest and slept peacefully. What he recognized around him was that he was laying on a soft ground that couldn't be grass or something similar. Actually, it felt like... sand.

"Oh fuck..." he groaned as a first flash of memories hit him. "Not again." People called that dejá vu. Reliving a situation in all its glory. Fearing he could get sick immediately, he moved until she woke up and lifted her head. The moment her clear eyes met his, they widened in disbelief and her tanned face became pale. He bet she was the one who felt sicker now.

"Fuck..." Pushing herself up as quickly as possible, she did her best to establish a safe distance between them. With one hand she grabbed the fabric of her untied blouse and held it tightly over her chest. Rossi stole a secret glance from her and had to smile though his headache made it hard to think the situation funny. She looked too cute when she was pissed and helpless.

"What the hell..."

"Please, yell at me in small letters, Erin" he demanded, covering his eyes with his arm. The feeling of the bright sun on his face was awful and worsened his headache.

"What are we doing here?"

"I don't know," he admitted wearily.

"And where are we?"

"I don't know."

"And what do you know?"

"I don't know."

"Fuck off, Rossi!"

"Not now, Erin."

"You bastard, this isn't funny!" she yelled.

"No, it's not... my head is killing me and your lovely voice doesn't help me recovering."

"I'm going to kill you, if you won't tell me right now where we are, why we are here and where you hid my bra!"

Realizing he wouldn't get any silent moment for the next few hours, he pushed himself up on his elbows.

"Are you sure you wore one?"

"Yes," she answered ghastly, giving him her best killer look.

Blinking, he looked around, trying to remember what had happened. He actually lay on sand and in front of him was water. A lake to be specific. He knew this place... just as he knew her.

"We've been here before... about 25 years ago... shit, what a party that was."

"Oh, shut up..."

Sinking on sand, Erin started to tie her black blouse. "I can't believe I did this," she mumbled more to herself than to him. How much did she have to drink to end up in his arms? And how much more did she have to drink to screw him? Ever since she woke up, she had tried to deny it, but the sore feeling between her legs and the whole rest of her body couldn't lie. If she just remembered how...

"David," she asked, as she suddenly started to remember where the whole disaster had started.

"Yes, Erin?"

"Where are the others?"

Silence.

"Who?" he asked, astonished.

"The others... Jason and... what's her name... Tracy?"

"You mean Stacy..." he said, now remembering the young woman.

"Whoever!"

He rose slowly, fixed his clothes and looked around. There was no one but them around. He scratched his head. "Maybe she's dead... alcohol poisoning..." he gave her a knowing look.

"She drank it all herself," Erin defended herself, as she rose as well. "I didn't force her."

"Please, you pulled a fast one on her... you gave her champagne and martini. That's a killing combination! It was obvious she had no rich experience with alcohol."

"Well, you certainly didn't try to keep her from drinking," she reminded him. "I guess in your head, you already pictured how willing she would be, once she had enough of that killing combination!"

"Then I just wonder, why you were the willing part in the end." He should really know better than to bring the subject up, but since the obvious evidence in form of two used condoms lay next to his feet, there was no way to avoid it. Maybe they better fought it out right here and now, without witnesses and curios glances.

"I wasn't willing. You... blindsided me," she spat, unwilling to admit the truth.

"Yeah, sure..." he sighed. "Just one tiny little history lesson... I never had to convince you to sleep with me! You've always been the one to knock at my door to ask for a roll in the hay!"

"Untrue, Rossi! I remember several times when you were the desperate party in this game..."

"Just forget it... Fact is we lost two of the fellow participants of our little party..."

Erin turned around. The place looked really lonely and forgotten. Two decades ago, this had been the place were the students of the Academy held their notorious parties, but these days the young people had moved to other places, though she couldn't understand why. She had always liked this place – all right, she had liked it until now.

"There's a parking lot... the car must be there."

"Right, the car..." Rossi mumbled, rubbing his face. He remembered the car. The Cadillac that wasn't his, but belonged to his published. The one he had borrowed and promised to bring back before midnight.

"What?" she asked, when she saw him musing.

"Nothing, let's go... maybe your good old friend Gideon is sleeping on the backseat."


	2. Chapter 2

Did I ever mention this is "slightly" AU ;-)?

**A night like this – Two **

**10 hours earlier**

Rossi swore silently, asking himself what exactly he had done to deserve this. Okay, his day had started badly, had turned for the worse and was now about to become a complete disaster. Doubting the delicious food of this well-known restaurant would compensate him for the torture he was about to experience, he did his best to concentrate on the menu and his charming, young dinner partner, though it was hard to concentrate on the young girl after his eyes had detected _her._

For an unbiased mind the sight of her well-formed ass visibly dressed dressed in a G-string and white linen pants that had just passed his table was a reason to cheer and to think about a way to get rid off both in the shortest amount of time. For him it was a reason to escape. To run as fast as he could, because the female miracle wearing it was a) not his date and b) his former and future boss.

Realizing he still had a chance to run and hide, if he was about to tell his young dinner guest that he knew a better place to eat. He put on his million dollar smile, but then he another person who admittedly didn't look as great as Erin Strauss, caught the rest of his attention and made him stay where he was. He narrowed his eyes and decided to wait until he knew why on earth he had to end up in the same Italian restaurant as his two long term nemesis.

"Dave!" the girl (what was her name again? Ah, right, Stacy!) said with a smile. "Are you all right?" Blue eyes, white teeth and red lip stick. God, he was too old for that.

"Just fine... Stacy... have you found something on the menu?"

* * *

As he greeted her, he couldn't help but to smile. She looked – as always – like a million dollars while he looked as if they had just kicked him out of Woolworth. Her face was tanned, her moves gracious and, though he knew she wasn't as blond as her hair color could make one believe, she appeared fresher and younger than he remembered her.

"You'll never grow old for me, nor fade, nor die..." he quoted softly, as he kissed her cheek.

"Prince Charming – as always," she returned with a smile and took the seat on the opposite table.

"No, just Shakespeare and honesty."

"I'm glad you came," she said warmly, watching him for a while.

"Well, after you went to all this trouble to hunt me down, I couldn't decline your invitation. It doesn't happen often a person finds me when I don't want to he found."

Her smile brightened, "Maybe my investigating skills are not as bad as people say."

"You bribed the guy who bought my cabin, didn't you?" he asked dryly.

"Of course... I'm effective," she said amused.

"You really owe me dinner for that."

"And as always the pleasure is on my side, Jason."

* * *

"Are you sure, you feel fine?" Stacy asked for the third time, after he hadn't answered her question about his latest book.

"I'm fine," Rossi coughed. "I just thought I saw someone I know..."

"Ahhh... I see," she turned to see whom he was talking about, faced him again with a supposed to be wicked smile on her face. "An ex-wife... an ex-lover?"

"Nooo," he brawled. "Nothing like that. Heaven help me..." he laughed, nervously. " I think we need some wine now!"

* * *

"So," Gideon said slowly, placing his wine glass back on the table., "Before we start to talk about the inevitable... how are Max and the kids?"

Erin's face lost its smile, "The kids are fine... all grown up, studying, making their own mistakes and Max is on vacation with his little Miss Perfect."

"I didn't know," he said, visibly affected and reached out to squeeze her hand. "I had no idea."

"It's okay," she shrugged, avoiding his eyes. "I still have to get used to closed tubes of toothpaste and a floor without dirty socks, but I'm doing fine and the silence around the house isn't as annoying as I had imagined it when he left."

"At least you look, as if you're doing great. Haiti?" he asked, admiring her tanned skin.

"Maui," she answered. "And you? How's the wild life without obligations and responsibility?"

"I have responsibility, Erin." he paused. "For myself." She scoffed and shook her head. "I can't do my job anymore... too much has happened and let's be honest, I screwed it up when this young girl killed herself."

"That wasn't your responsibility," she reminded him for what had to be the 20th time ever since he had told her, he would leave the BAU, the FBI and everything else that was connected to his professional life.

"And it wasn't Hotchner's responsibility either," he eyed her closely, "I know what you did and honestly, Honey, _you_ screwed that one up!"

"I know, I know," she admitted quickly, swallowing her words with a big sip of cold white wine. "Hotchner has his job back and I'm trying to given them another chance. Satisfied?"

"Good," he said, indeed satisfied. "So, now that we've established that I won't come back... who will replace me?"

"As if you would care..." she said in a voice that alerted him. Leaning back against the rest of her chair, she swirled the wine in her glass and waited for him to show interest.

"Come on, Erin... don't make this a game."

"Why not?"

"Because I can see in your eyes, you're dying to tell me who'll replace me."

She scoffed. "Don't profile me, Jason. It won't work."

"Why not? It's easy to profile you."

"It's not," she denied upset.

"It is. You're an open book for me."

"Read me..." she offered generously, her eyes encouraging him.

Challenged by her reluctance to talk he leaned back as well, took his glass by its shaft, and pierced her with his eyes.

"Not really?" he asked, as if he was reading her mind, without believing what his told him.

"It won't work to tease me like that... spill out a name, if you can find it on my mind."

Actually, he couldn't. Erin Strauss was the master of poker face. In their days at the academy, she had always stripped him naked, every time they had played poker and not much had changed since then. But even if the name wasn't written all over her face, she could only have called him to tell him that someone they both knew – and despised – could be his successor and there was just one name on the list that could fit this profile.

"Don't tell me, it's Mr. Big Payday prices, private consulting and bestselling author Dave Rossi."

She emptied her glass with one last sip and gave him an annoyed glance.

"Was I that obvious?"

"Yes," he lied. "How? When?"

"Oh, he didn't call himself... the Director called me and he was called by... I guess the President himself, I have no idea, but it's true. Rossi is coming back to the BAU."

"The President is a fan of Rossi?" Gideon asked amused.

"Maybe he's just annoyed with him, I don't care, but I do care that he's about to come back into my unit."

"I see..." A smile formed around his lips and enlightened his eyes. "That's why Hotchner's job isn't in danger... you would rather spend a year in hell, before you allow Rossi to take over the team and piss at your leg."

"Oh please..." annoyed he was right again, she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I want more wine."

"Voila..." he refilled her glass and his and watched her. "Did Rossi say why he wants to come back?"

"No... the Director said, Rossi offered his help, because the BAU has a man down. A completely selfless act." She rolled her eyes. "Please, give me a bucket. The last time he did something completely selfless was when he gave Megan Hunter a bucket before she could vomit on the leather seats in his brand new car!"

Gideon laughed and after a few seconds she joined him, realizing how childish she sounded.

"I think I remember that one... great party... We really had some great times when we were younger..."

* * *

Her laughter reached his ear and distracted him from his conversation with Tracy... Stacy. Not that Stacy had much to say, she was mostly asking him questions he had heard before, and continued to admire him and his achievements.

God, she really thought being a profiler was a great way to spend his time. But how could he tell her, without scaring her to death that being a profiler meant to visit deep, dark places where no hope survived longer than a flower in a fire? He had to give up the job, because he had started to question himself and now he was about to take it back, because he couldn't stand the doubts anymore.

Just like the man at the table across the room, only that Jason Gideon who was rumored to be wreck, was having the time of his life with a woman who... damn, she looked great in that black, tie waist, sleeveless blouse...

He had heard through the grapevine her useless, boring husband had left for his secretary, and obviously she was doing fine without him. Maybe now that Gideon had left the FBI, he and she... Rossi grinned amused. He suddenly remembered a certain secret party back at the Academy. Damn, they had fun when they were younger.

"Dave!"

"Yes, Tra... Stacy?"

"Are you sure, she isn't your ex-wife?"

"Of course... I know my wives."

"Yes, but why are you staring at her like this?" He swallowed, asking himself why her big, blue eyes couldn't move him.

"Well... how's your fish?"

* * *

"Would you care to dance with me?" Erin asked dreamily, after they had finished the dessert. They had emptied one bottle of wine and were heavily working on getting the next one done.

"I suck at dancing, Erin," Gideon answered wearily.

"Oh, no you're a great dancer... I can tell."

"You have a bad memory."

"My memory is excellent as your feet are..." she grinned and one second later, he knew why.

"Is it your foot that has just started caressing my upper thigh?" he asked lowly.

"Yes..." she smiled, sipping her wine.

"Dangerous territory..."

"Not, if you ask me to dance."

She really had to much to drink and since he could only chose now between getting horny and stepping on her feet, he decided to ask her to dance, before he did something he didn't want to be hold accountable for. Not that he didn't like or didn't want her. He remembered their days at the academy too well, not to want her. There was just no way in hell, he would risk their twenty year old friendship for a quick fuck on the backseat of his car. Their cheerful, easy academy days were over and today sex had another importance for him. If he had sex with a woman these days, he certainly hoped she would stay longer than just for breakfast.

He cleared his throat.

"You made your point. Get up and dance with me."

She smiled happily when he pulled her with him on the dance floor and swirled her skillfully into his arms. They glided easily over the dance floor, moving elegantly between other dancing couples. The music was soft, promising romance and tenderness.

"Are you sure, you want to leave civilization for the rest of your life?" Erin asked, after a few minutes of comfortable silence between them. "The office isn't the same without you... I miss the guy who invites me for lunch and makes me pay in the end."

He laughed, "Oh come on... I'm not out of this world... You found me once, you can find me again."

"Believe me, I will... Maybe just because I need someone who helps me not to kill our latest addition."

"I'm sure you'll kick his ass and let me him know who the boss is... you're good in kicking asses."

"Right now I want to kick yours," she said. "Please, rethink your decision, Jason," Erin begged, but he simply shook his head.

"Not a good idea with those high heels of yours... maybe we should just continue to... Holy shit."

He stopped dead for a second, recovered quickly and turned her quickly so that he covered her, before a certain someone could continue to stare at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked puzzled, a little dizzy from the alcohol and the quick swirling movement.

"He's here."

"Who?"

"He."

"Max?"

"No... he," Gideon pointed out.

"Rossi?" she asked, losing her color.

"Yes. At the table in the corner. With a teenage bride."

"Not really..." her nails dug into his shirt.

"We can go, if you want to."

"Turn me, I want to see her... has he still this ugly beard?"

"Erin..."

"What? I'm just curious..."

"He's already been staring enough at you..."

"He saw me... us?" she asked. The color was returning to her face and her cheeks were flushed now.

"Yes... so, if we sneak out of here now, we can pretend it never happened."

"And what if I don't want that?" she crooked left eyebrow. Knowing the wicked glitter in her eyes, he knew it was about time to go... if not too late. Way too late. She pushed herself a little closer against him and sneaked her arms around his neck.

"Heaven, no... You've played this game at the Academy with him and I was the one who ended up punched by him while you were the one he screwed on the beach."

"Well, better than the other way round... and," she added seductively. "It was not a real beach... just a beach party. It was just a lot of sand and a water hole."

"Details... the two of you fucked and I was bleeding."

"I was drunk!" she defended herself. "And today he wouldn't dare to punch you."

"Maybe not..." he tried himself to force his hands up to hers so that he could remove them from his neck, but his body didn't obey. The effect of the wine became slowly evident and somehow he didn't mind her body leaning against his.

"I'm not sure this is a perfect idea..." he said lowly.

"Is he still watching?" she asked, ignoring his weak objection.

"I'm sure he is..."

By now his hands were tenderly moving up and down her back. Though he knew Rossi was watching them as they were dancing it didn't really matter. He enjoyed holding her and thought about completely ignoring Rossi for the rest of the evening. Her hands that slowly came to rest on his ass, cupping it with soft pressure intensified the wish to forget the world around him.

"I'm serious, Erin. That's dangerous territory..." He meant it. He was only human and he wasn't dead yet. He had always been more than aware of her physical attributes and he had no idea how long he could control his body, before it took over.

"I promise you, he hates it," she whispered seductively and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

He tasted the wine, the touch of her tongue left on his lower lip and his reluctance to join her game melted steadily. Right now, she made him feel younger, desirable and incredible dashing.

"You may get more than you bargained for," he warned her hoarsely and felt himself hardening at her thigh.

"I'm taking the risk... I make a bet that within 5 minutes he and his little Miss Sunshine will be on the dance floor as well. Just as he and Megan Hunter..."

"The Megan who vomited in his car?"

"Yes, nice girl... but she sucked at drinking. So..." she smiled again, intensifying the pressure of her hands on his ass. "Will you help me to piss him off so that we can enjoy the rest of our evening in peace?"

* * *

His eyes narrowed dangerously as his eyes followed the movements of her hands. God, was she drunk again? He remembered her formidable way of losing control every time she had consumed too much alcohol. Actually, he had once lost a bet when he said, she would never dance on a table top, even if she was drunk. Well, he had lost and Gideon had forced him to watch him and Erin making out in his car... he had had his revenge one week later, but the impression had been made on him and had left its scars. Today, it still made his blood boil to see them dancing like that.

So Gideon had left, because he was traumatized... Trauma my ass, Rossi thought. A trauma looked different to him... Gideon appeared as if he couldn't wait to nail Erin against the next wall... and she looked as if she really needed someone to nail her.

"Dave..."

"Yes..."

"Do you want to dance?"

* * *

"I knew it," she mumbled when she saw Rossi and his teenage bride entering the dance floor.

"Maybe that's the moment to leave," Gideon suggested, because he feared the unexpected turn of the evening could turn into the uneventful event, he had expected it to be when he had entered the restaurant.

"Not quite yet," she twinkled and leaned in to kiss him. He reacted instantly, pulling her even closer, proving if she went to behave like that, he wouldn't make it far from here. She had always been a sensual kisser, the one who made you promise with a flick of her tongue what awaited you, once she later would turn to other parts of your body. He groaned into her mouth, as she parted his lips with her tongue. Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last too long, because before he could give her the final sign to leave the dance floor, a pain, worse than he had experienced in a long time, let him forget how to breath. He felt as if someone had stabbed a knife right into his spine. He gasped, hit Erin's foot with his and his teeth ended in her lower lip. She yelled in pain and they broke apart.

"What the hell..." he turned to see who had crashed into him. His pain colored eyes met a pair of dark, amused ones.

"I'm sorry," Rossi apologized. "We stumbled over each other. I hope we didn't hurt you."

"Bastard," Erin hissed and touched her lip. It was slightly bleeding.

"Excuse me?" Rossi asked with a smile.

"I'm fine," she said and cleared her throat.

"It was all my fault," Stacy said quickly. "I should watch my feet."

"Don't worry," Gideon said, coughing, because he thought it could help his pain subsiding. The crash had definitely helped to let his desire die like a candle in a barrel filled with water.

"My, my..." Rossi continued. "That we have to crash into each other like this to meet again. How long has it been? Ten years? Twenty?"

"Not long enough," Erin answered, disgusted. "If you excuse me now... I have to clear my face from the blood."

"Let me help you!" Stacy offered friendly.

"No thanks!" Erin barked and then forced herself to lower her voice. They already had caught the attention of the other visitors and didn't need more of it. "I'm fine... really."

Without giving Rossi or the others another look she rushed away from the dance floor, grabbed her purse and vanished to the corner of the restaurant where she believed the Ladies Room. After making a detour in the kitchen she finally found the staircase downstairs. Frustrated with the way Rossi had crashed her promising evening, she dashed her purse on the table in front of the mirror and took a closer look at her face. The cut Jason's tooth had left was small and had stopped bleeding. Yet, she looked as if she had lost a boxing match.

"Fucking bastard!" she ranted and did her best to conceal her small wound. If Rossi thought, he had won this, he was wrong. This night wasn't over yet.

~tbc~


	3. Chapter 3

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_Have fun with the next chapter and thanks to everyone who's commented, reviewed and alerted this story! _

**A night like this - Three**

A few minutes later, after Erin had her face restored and was applying some lipstick, the door to the Ladies' room opened. She watched the movement of the door in the mirror and wasn't the least surprised - or happy - to see Rossi's playmate entering the room.

"Are you all right?" Stacy asked, genuinely worried.

"Just fine," Erin replied sharply, checking her lipstick. Damn, the cut was still visible. She pulled the collar of her blouse in place and did her best to ignore the younger woman who placed herself right next to her and checked her still perfect make up.

"I'm so sorry. It really wasn't our intention to hurt you. But Dave was so amazed to see you here that I thought we should say hello and on our way, we stumbled." Stacy smiled and Erin forced herself to smile back. It seemed the girl had no idea what kind of jackass David Rossi actually was and really believed he would never try to hurt her or Jason on purpose.

Sometimes she wished she could be young again and believe in people's best intentions.

"It's okay..." she said. "I don't think we've been introduced."

"Oh Stacy. Stacy Miller. I'm an interior in the publishing house Dave works with."

"Public relations, I assume." Bride smile. 'Don't be so mean, Erin. She's just a kid.' Stacy nodded with a smile on her face. "My boss thought working with Dave would be a good training for me. He's so funny and easy to get along with."

"He certainly is one of the easiest guys I know."

"And you're?" Question marks in her eyes.

"Oh... Chief... Strauss," she stretched her hand out. "Erin Strauss. Nice to meet you."

"My pleasure... so... where do we go from here?" she took Erin's hand and shrugged, a little insecure. Later Erin remembered that was the moment, when she had suddenly known what to do. Putting on her best smile, she made a small step forward and picked a lint from Stacy's jacket.

"Tell me... why don't we forget about our rough start and have a drink together? I'm sure David will have nothing against it."

* * *

"Some things just never change," Gideon remarked dryly, as he and Rossi had settled down at the bar. "You still can't stand to play the second fiddle... or in this case, the very last one."

Gideon made a toast and emptied the glass at once.

"Excuse me?" Rossi asked, sipping his own beer.

"This fucking accident was no accident. You've been watching us the whole time and when you couldn't stand us having fun while you had to listen to this barely grown up hat stand you had to disturb us. You're such a lousy loser." Ordering the next beer, Gideon shook his head.

"I'm a loser?" Rossi asked in disbelief. "Man, I did you a favor!"

"You did yourself a favor... just tell me one thing... why can't you just leave her alone?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure," Gideon scoffed. "And beer is just juice made of hop. You could never stand it when she was dating someone else... especially not me."

"Don't tell me, you're still angry because of that little fist fight back then."

"You broke my nose and seduced my girl!"

Staring at one another, none of the two men signaled surrender.

"And today you thought it's time for payback," Rossi spat. "You know what? Go and have her... !"

"Don't worry... I will!" Both men had jumped up, facing each other now. A glass crashed. Rossi had wanted to put his glass back on the bar and instead the pieces and the liquid were gracing the stool and the floor. Silence surrounded them since everybody in the restaurant had stopped talking and was watching them. Rossi's left hand had grabbed Gideon's collar, the right one had wrapped around his neck.

"Give me a reason," Rossi hissed, glaring at Gideon. "And your nose won't be only thing that needs treatment."

"Your kindergarten kiddo is coming back," Gideon answered calmly, patting Rossi's hand. "You better leave me alone or she learns you only tolerate her, because you can piss of your ex with her presence"

"Fuck you!" Rossi released Gideon and quickly checked his tie, before he turned. His smile faded when he saw Erin and Stacy approaching them together. Both were laughing about something and he noticed with slight discontent that Erin had wrapped her arm around Stacy's shoulder and whispered something into her ear. This couldn't be good. When women behaved like best friends, the men in their nearness had no chance to survive.

"What the hell..." he mumbled.

"Davie!" Stacy greeted him enthusiastically.

"Davie?" Gideon repeated in a low, but girlish voice. "Man, you have a problem."

"You haven't told me, Erin's been your boss... I don't think you even mentioned her in your books."

"She was too shy," Rossi answered in most charming voice.

"You have to devote your next book to her. She knows so much about you and your fantastic work for the FBI!"

While passing him, Strauss smiled sweetly at Rossi before she placed herself next to Jason and took his glass to take a sip from his beer.

"You know, I promised her some champagne, because I treated her so ghastly, when you ran into us... so why don't we order a bottle and search for a table for four?"

"You want to invite us for champagne?" Rossi asked, now visibly taken off guard.

"Yes... why not?"

"Oh, please, let us stay," Stacy begged. "We're getting along so well!"

"Yes," Gideon agreed. "We're having so much fun..." he grinned brazenly and kissed Erin's cheek. Rossi noticed Gideon's hand running down Erin's back until he had reached her ass and squeezed it gently.

"Yes, why not..." Rossi agreed, pressed. Damn, whatever Erin had in mind couldn't end well for him. She was like snake that now focused on a rabbit. But was he the rabbit or Tra... Stacy?

~tbc~


	4. Chapter 4

I guess the rating will definitely have to change after this chapter...

**A night like this – Four**

**3 hours later **

The soft night breeze carried the hint of the forbidden; a feeling that only a mix of alcohol and acute hubris could create. Since they all had been drinking too much to drive, they had thrown a coin and in the end, Rossi had been the one who lost and had to drive. The advantage was that he could decide about their destination and since Erin and Gideon had had the hell of a time to spill the beans about Rossi's failures and accomplished mischief back in their old academy days, he thought they all could go back to the scene of crime.

Stacy, the youngest and the one who had drunk the most, was asleep on the backseat, leaning against Gideon who looked rather uncomfortable. Erin had done a good job of making Stacy drunk while appearing almost sober herself, though Rossi knew she wasn't. She was just fighting to stay in control, but he would make sure she would lose her own battle.

"Where do you take us, Rossi?" Gideon asked for what had to be the tenth time.

"Surprise."

"Knowing him he'll take us to some memorable place," Erin guessed ironically. She sat next to him in the front seat, letting the air brushing her hair. Rossi smiled to himself. He enjoyed the sight of her when he knew she wasn't watching him.

"You have no idea..." he grinned. "We're almost there."

"I can hardly wait..." bending forward she opened her purse and pulled out a bottle of martini.

"Where did you get that?" Rossi asked astonished.

"Well, the bartender said, we could get it for free, as long as we just left the place and never return. He wasn't happy when you crashed the third glass of beer..." she explained.

"That was Gideon," Rossi defended himself. They had reached a grand sized parking lot and David stopped the car.

"Here we are," he announced.

"Great place..." Gideon commented, as he looked around. It was dark and their car was only one that was to be seen.

"It actually is..." Rossi said. "Tracy here..."

"Stacy," Erin corrected.

"She wanted to see the place where he held our parties. Well, that's it."

"She's asleep, Rossi..."

"Then maybe you should wake her up, Jason." Rossi suggested and added with a grin, "After all you're closest to her."

* * *

"I can't believe you took us to this place," Erin said, as they stood at the lake. It was dark, the moon was hiding behind a cloud and the wind was quite fresh. She rubbed her bare arms to warm up.

"Why not?" he asked, pacing the shore. "We had fun here."

"It's amazing you remember any of it. I can't remember a party when you weren't drunk," she said, opening the bottle with the martini. She was hoping against hope the alcohol could help to justify the inevitable.

"I have the memory of an elephant."

"And its skull."

She sank on the sand and offered him the bottle with the martini. He sat down next to her and took the bottle. They were alone at the shore, because the moment Gideon had woken up Tracy... Stacy had become sick and had escaped the car. He had followed her, demanding Erin and David to stay where they are. Disregarding an order was a natural reaction of Rossi and so he had left. Unwilling to stay alone at the car and even more unwilling to hear and watch someone else getting sick, Erin had decided to follow Rossi. This lesser of two evils was still evil, but had at least nothing to so with someone losing her dinner.

"A toast to you, Section Chief Strauss... I can hardly wait to work for you again." He lifted the bottle, taking a large sip.

"You'll live to regret it," she promised, taking the bottle back.

"We'll see about that." For a moment no one said a thing. They just sat next to each other, handling the bottle back and forth. He eyed her curiously. "Why Gideon? Why tonight?"

"Excuse me?"

"You had time and opportunity to go after him in the last 20 years, but as far as I know you didn't... so why tonight?"

She shrugged, "You don't know half as much as you believe."

He laughed, "Oh come, Erin... don't even try lying to me! You're a real bitch at times, but you're hardly someone who sleeps around when married to someone else!"

"You don't know me," she stated, coolly.

"Oh yes, I do," he sighed. "Better than I want to. You really remember this spot?" he asked, changing the subject.

"No," she answered a little too quickly. Of course, she remembered the lake. She remembered a campfire, beer, his skin on hers, the cool wind, the sweat, his husky voice against her ear, the smell of sex...

He started laughing. "You know what I want to do right now?"

She didn't want to know. "Actually, I don't care."

"When did you last skinny dip?" he asked, giving her a side glance.

"1999," was her sharp answer.

"That's a long time."

"Not long enough."

"Don't be a such a boring spoilsport! It's dark..."

"And freaking cold! I won't skinny dip with you, Rossi." Man, the guy had a nerve!

"That's a real shame. I could warm you up."

"Forget it." She opened the bottle again and took another large sip. The bottle was half empty now and all of the sudden she started feeling dizzy. She had consumed a high amount of alcohol tonight, but it was only now she really felt her head spinning. She had to slow down or she would get sick and the last thing she wanted was to vomit in front of David Rossi.

"Oh God..." she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He took the bottle, took one last sip and threw it over his shoulder. She heard the glass crashing and gasped. "What did you do?"

"You had enough for tonight... I intend to fuck you while you're conscious."

"Dream you!" she yelled, trying to get up, but she was too dizzy. Before she could stumble backwards, he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently back in place. "You stay here."

He rose and started unbuttoning his shirt. Trough her dizziness she heard the zip of trousers, asking herself what he was about to do.

"If you dare to..." she stammered, as she saw his clothes ending next to her legs.

"I'll be right back."

Then he was gone and heard him entering the water. The only idea of how cold the water had to be made her frown and at the same it aroused her to imagine how the liquid would caress her naked skin. She lay back on the sand, ran her fingers through her hair and wished her brain could produce one single, reasonable thought and stop acting like a crazy merry-go-round. Closing her eyes didn't help either, it only worsened her condition. She was torn apart between dizziness and a state of horniness that drove her crazy. She felt too old for that kind of shit and she hated that Rossi was the only man available to fulfill her needs and damn she knew he would, given the opportunity... she remembered how well he could perform when he wanted – and she couldn't remember a time when he had refused.

* * *

As careful as possible Gideon led the young woman back to the car. He opened the door to the fond and made her sit down. He wasn't surprised Rossi and Erin had disappeared. What else could he expect? If he was honest to himself, he had a clear vision about what they were doing right now...

His head ached and in his chest crumbled something by the mere thought, but then he should have known better than to allow them to drag him into their good old power game. Now he had a vomiting kid next to him and no idea how and when he would be home again.

"Okay... I know you think you want to die, but I promise you'll be better soon," he said in a kind voice. He really felt sorry for her. Even through the darkness he saw how pale she was.

"Do you want something to drink? Water?" he asked.

She nodded weakly and he left to search for something to drink, hoping they had more than the martini, but there was nothing useful left in the Cadillac. But not even the martini was there. He cursed lowly, wished Erin and Rossi had gone to hell.

He thought for a moment and then remembered he had seen a gasoline station about 5 miles from there.

* * *

She was dozing when he returned and sank down next to her. The water had been freaking cold, but the dip hadn't cooled him off. On the contrary, now he wanted her even more. How could a witch like her look so beautiful?

Her eyes were closed. She looked peaceful, though he imagined she felt differently.

He touched her by her shoulder.

"Are you awake?" he asked, grinning.

"No."

"Sick?"

"Not yet."

"Good... I knew you wouldn't disappoint me... you never have."

"I don't know if that's a compliment or an obvious insult." She didn't dare to open her eyes. She sensed he was close, but she couldn't say she wanted to face him while he was naked... and dripping wet. Damn, the image drove her mad.

"That fully depends on your perspective," he said, moving himself on top of her.

"NO!"

Furiously, she opened her eyes, found him right above her and clenched her fists, hitting his shoulders. Her clothes were getting wet and his weight pressed her into the sand.

"Why not?" he asked, brushing his hand over her hair. "Don't tell me you don't want to fuck... the only reason you met Gideon tonight was because you wanted to fuck... and now it's me instead of him. Now strings attached..."

"There are always strings! Leave me alone!"

She wanted to fight him, but she was too weak and that she felt the evidence for his arousal against her center didn't help much either. Damn, he was right, she wanted him to fuck her senseless...

Her fists stopped hitting him, as he started to assault her with his mouth. He kissed her neck, licked his way up to her ear lob. His breath was hot against her skin and she felt how she lost control. She whimpered as his hands found the way into her blouse and caressed her naked breasts.

"One condition," she croaked, as his mouth glided down her throat.

"Shoot..." he mumbled, as his fingers started unbuttoning her pants.

"Use a condom! Only God knows what kind of decease you carry with you!" It was the very last straw she could grasp at to prevent this, and of course she knew it was useless. The deal was already done.

"Does that mean you won't perform a blow job tonight?" he asked, grinning, his mouth right about hers.

"Take it or leave it," she hissed, earning a devious grin.

**~~tbc~~**


	5. Chapter 5

**A night like this – Five **

Gideon returned to the car with one bottle of water in the left and a bottle of beer in the right hand. The gasoline station was deserted; the old man who owned the shop locked the door behind Gideon, but remained at the window, watching him and Stacy.

"Cheers," he said, as he gave Stacy the water and opened his beer. She said on the passengers seat, one foot standing on the ground, the other remaining in the car, while she stared at the sky.

"You guys are really weird..." Stacy remarked, disgusted.

"No, they're weird... I'm just a normal guy."

"No, you aren't," Stacy said wearily. "You're all crazy."

"Maybe, you're right," he sighed wearily as he leaned against the car. "Maybe we've been playing this game for too long."

"What game?" she asked. "You're two guys who want the same woman and she can't decide which one is best for her. That's actually the oldest story in the book. Not very original."

"I know it is... but I assume it feels different as soon as you're caught in the middle of it," Jason mused. "You know, when we were young the three of us were... invincible. We were a real dream team... until the night, things went out of hand..."

"Are we talking about a threesome here?" Stacy asked, ready to throw up again.

"No," Gideon replied instantly. "It's more complicated... but I don't want to annoy you with ancient history. Maybe we should go back and try to find them, before they tear each other apart."

* * *

"Damn you!" Erin yelled, exhausted. She dug her nails into Rossi's shoulders, as he rode her through her climax, allowing her to enjoy the much needed release as long as possible. He wasn't ready yet, but he didn't care; was sure she would return the favor in her own special way. And she did. Forcing him on his back, she straddled him, pushed his hands over his head, and set her own rhythm.

He couldn't help but giving her a wicked smile. She hadn't changed at all; she still couldn't stand not to be in control and was still able to make him lose his mind. He had no idea if her husband had any idea of what he had lost when he had switched Erin for his secretary, but he wanted to believe that he was the only man who could bring out the tigress in her.

"You enjoy this, don't you?" he asked, as he felt her muscles working harder and harder on him. "It's exactly what you wanted." He groaned out loud, as he felt himself reaching the point of no return.

"Says the one who has a family pack of condoms in his jacket pocket!" She stretched, holding wrists, fastening her ride. She felt he was close and enjoyed to have at least this kind of physical power over him. He jerked his hands free and dug his right hand into her hair. He kissed her hard, but released her instantly when he remembered the small wound Gideon's tooth had left. But she didn't seem to mind, didn't even seem to notice the slightest amount of pain. Her eyes were closed now, her whole body focusing on him and what they both needed to finish this.

"Touch me!" she ordered huskily, because she knew she was about to reach her next climax, this time probably in perfect sync with him. He gladly obliged, sneaked his hand between there crashing bodies and thumbed her swollen clit, knowing it would drive her mad.

"That's it," he croaked. "Fuck, Erin..."

The wave, called orgasm, hit him like an earth quake, made him call out her name. Without having control about his body he pushed into her one last time, before the world exploded around him. Coming with him she fell onto his chest, clinging to him while she just couldn't stop milking him, wishing the sensation could last forever.

"Bastard..." she whimpered weakly, as she held onto him and ran her fingers through his hair. She had always loved his thick hair and still loved to brush it back from his sweaty forehead.

"You're always a good fuck..." he whispered breathlessly against her ear and kissed her temple. His hands ran down her back, cupped her ass, squeezed it, causing her move slightly, what kept his cock from softening. Her index finger came instantly to rest on his mouth, her eyes piercing his. "Shut up...You know we aren't finished yet, don't you?"

* * *

"I don't believe this," Gideon rested his forehead against the steering wheel and wished he could die here and now. This was a nightmare.

"Jason, that's the police, is it?" Stacy asked, swallowing hard.

"It is..." he confirmed dryly.

On their way back to the parking lot was just one cross road... and aside from the Cadillac, there had just been one other car on the road. Just one... hitting him had been the chance of one in a million and yet...

Gideons' eyes had focused on the road, but in his mind he was at the shore of a lake. He hadn't applied the brakes as the cross road came closer, he hadn't seen the other car, had ignored its lights. He hadn't even heard the horn... he had just felt the crash.

"Did we really hit a police car?" Stacy asked, obviously scared.

There was no doubt about it. He recognized a uniform when he saw one.

"We did."

* * *

**4 hours later **

"I can't believe it. Tell me, I'm dreaming this." Erin's voice was thin, toneless and Rossi could tell she was close to lose her composure, which was understandable from her point of view.

He on the other hand was close to strangle someone. All this had to be a fucking joke.

They stood on the parking lot, where they had left the car, Gideon, and Stacy the other night and now there was nothing. No Cadillac, no Gideon, no Stacy. Just Erin, him and the sun.

"Where's the fucking car?" Rossi asked, feeling very uneasy. Did Gideon steal it as a payback for the way he and Erin had sneaked away? Damn, it wasn't even his car... what if... he didn't want to think about it. Running his fingers through his hair, Rossi tried to fathom what they had to do now. A difficult task, because he was hangover.

There were in the middle of nowhere. No cell phone, no money, but a headache and a lot of emotions, he couldn't quite grasp. Damn, he had fucked her and in soon he would be working with – for – her again.

"Fuck off the car!" she yelled. "Where's Jason?"

"Who cares for Jason? It's not my car and if someone stole it, I'm in deep shit!"

Erin turned and swirled around, but of course she saw nothing that could be identified as a white Cadillac, she only managed to get sick. Damn, she needed some food to get her mind and body back to work. And some coffee. And probably a cigarette. Damn, she had given up smoking twenty years and she had never missed it – until now.

"Wasn't there a gasoline station somewhere on the way?" she asked, massaging her temples.

He wrinkled his forehead. "I think so... but that's a few miles from here." From there they could at least find a way to get back to the city. He eyed her high heels. "Will you make it with those?"

She faced him and shook her head in disgust. "Believe me... my feet are the only parts of my body that do not hurt. Let's go!"

* * *

They reached the gasoline station an hour later. Now her feet were hurting as well and the piercing sun, though the morning wasn't particularly warm, had intensified her headache. She felt incredible sick, but fought it with the last strength she could mobilize.

"Care what I think?" Rossi asked as they entered the small shop where the smell of fresh coffee reached their noses.

"What?"

"What if Gideon and Stacy have decided to get back at us for sneaking away and have spent the night in a motel doing what we did?"

She didn't want to picture that and scoffed disgusted. "You still haven't realized he isn't like you, have you? He would never sleep with someone who could be his daughter to get back at someone!"

"You really think he's completely devoted to you, don't you?"

They had stopped in the middle of the small store, glaring at each other. The truce between them was definitely over. She opened her mouth, ready to return an answer that possessed the sharpness of a knife when someone behind them cleared his cranky voice

"Can I help you?"

They turned, surprised. Only now they noticed the small, old man behind the counter. He wasn't shaved, his shirt was covered with stains and he missed one teeth right in the middle of his upper jaw. His eyes lay appreciating on Erin who couldn't say she liked the feeling of him looking at her like this.

"Yes, Sir," Rossi said slowly as he approached the counter. "Could we use your phone, please? Our car is... just let me use your phone." He had no intention of describing their disaster in detail to someone he didn't know.

"Why should I?" the old man asked with crooked eyebrows. His voice sounded hoarse and unfriendly.

"Excuse me?" Rossi asked, dumbfounded. "Sir, we need help."

"You don't look trustworthy..."

"Look, Sir, I wouldn't ask..."

"Excuse me," Erin interrupted them quickly. "Is there are toilet somewhere?" The smell of the fresh coffee had been too much. She felt incredible sick and needed to get out before she lost last night's martini.

"Round the corner," the old mumbled, but she had already stormed out of the building.

Torn between following her and getting the old man to use his phone, Rossi remained at the counter, thinking.

"Please," he made a new attempt. "We just need to call a taxi and we'll be gone. It's really urgent."

* * *

After Erin rose from her knees after she had embraced the toilet seat for what had seemed to be an eternity, she felt at least better. Her knees were still a bit weak, but at least she knew her body had started recovering from the violent abuse of martini (she would never touch it again).

Pressing the flush button she turned to the dirty small mirror and groaned when she saw her lousy appearance. The last traces of make up gracing her face let her look like a dead clown and she could notice wrinkles that hadn't been there 12 hours ago. She had always been proud of her looks that used to let her appear younger than she actually was. Now she looked at least one decade older than she really was and she hated it. Hated him.

"Damn you, David Rossi!" she told her own reflection. "I swear you won't do this to me again."

Turning on the faucet, she bent her head, hoping some cold water would help to restore some of her dignity.

* * *

When Erin returned to the store, David was still arguing with the old man.

"Listen, I promise to come back and pay your expenses, but right now I just need to make this call to get back to the city." It was frustrating; the guy was tough and stubborn like a cement wall and greedy as a magpie. Rossi had noticed how the old man's eyes were lingering on his wrist where he had his favorite Rolex fastened. Of course, the old dog wanted that Rossi gave him the watch as a deposit, and later when he would return to reclaim his possession the old fart would say, he had never seen a watch like this in his entire life. But before he would give the bastard his Rolex he would rather carry Erin back to Washington.

"Listen," Rossi sighed, attempting one last time to knock sense into the old man's head, before he had to use violence. "This frigging call won't take me 5 minutes... I promise you'll get your money this afternoon."

"Nope." He shook his head. "I've seen many guys like you. No way I'll let you use my phone, unless..." a grin appeared on his face, showing off his tooth gap.

"Unless what?" David asked, sharply though he knew what was coming. But the man behind the counter wasn't the one who understand subtle threats. "You can of course make a deposit... jewelery... your watch... I'm not picky."

"Forget it!" Erin said. She had remained in the background, following the exchange of the men. Making her way to the counter, she was talking herself into a rant, which meant at least that she had to feel better now.

Rossi sighed. The old man had it coming. When she got really angry he wouldn't need to use violence to make his call, but he was sure he would be deaf after she had finished."I have the feeling you don't understand the seriousness of our situation. We have no car, our friends are lost and all you have to do is giving us the fucking receiver to make one short call!"

"I understand your problem, Lady," the old man smiled at her, visibly unimpressed by her Strauss tone. "But I have a rule here... that's a lonely place and you just can't trust people... especially not when they look... as wrecked as you do. Who tells me you haven't escaped from jail?"

"Do you treat every customer like this?" Erin asked in return. Rossi put his hands on her shoulder and squeezed it. "I mean that would at least explain why we're the only people in here right now!"

"Last night a couple was here as well... looked as wrecked as you do."

"You fucking..." she started, but Rossi interrupted her.

"Forget it, Honey. We'll just tramp home... sooner or later a car will stop and we won't need this old cowboy to get home."

"Tramping is dangerous, Sir," the old man reminded him.

"Don't worry about that," Rossi said, pulling an angry Erin back from the counter and with him to the door.

"There's always another way." Though annoyed by the cryptic remark the two of them stopped.

"Maybe we should check some of the old files... could be the guy is a serial killer we couldn't catch so far," Erin mumbled, before she turned to face him again.

"And what way? Aside from giving you a fortune for call that takes less time than a minute?"

"I'm a simple man... I care for the simply things in life."

"As a Rolex?" Rossi asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Forget about the watch, Sir..." he grinned again, his eyes lingering on Erin. "I'll let you make your precious call, when she opens her blouse for me. I like feisty women and from what I can estimate she's still worth to take a look!"

Erin's jaw dropped and she turned her face away, praying for patience and wishing she had a gun. Rossi looked down at her, inhaling deeply.

"Why don't you go outside for a moment, Erin?" he asked calmly. "I have the feeling it's safer."

"But David..."

"Do what I say and whatever happens don't look inside this shop. I'll be right with you."

He pushed her gently out of the door, locked it and returned to the counter.

_**~tbc~**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Erin became rather nervous when David hadn't returned in more 15 minutes after she had left the shop. Sometimes she had dared to turn to steal a glance through the dirty windows, but she couldn't see a thing what the two men were doing in there.

Maybe it was a good sign that she didn't hear screams or bursting windows and furniture... or maybe not.

The way David had thrown her out of the shop worried her. It was always bad when David Rossi was calmer than usual. Many UnSubs who had been at the receiving end of his calmness had left the interrogation room as broken men. If she was honest to herself she liked the idea that he wanted to protect her, but then she reminded herself of who he was. David Rossi did nothing without a reason and she assumed that he was just sick of sitting in the middle of nowhere, trapped with an old, toothless clerk and a woman he loved to fuck, but otherwise could stand like the plague.

She heard a door falling shut and turned. Rossi stepped out on the porch, lit a cigar and inhaled deeply.

"Where did you get that from?"

"A gift from Amos," he said, as strolled toward her. "Want to try?" He asked, offering her the cigar. Her forehead wrinkled in disgust.

"No, thanks. So?"

"So what?" he asked back.

"Did you kill him and call a taxi?"

"I did... I mean I called a taxi, but..." he scratched the back of his neck.

"What?" she asked, already pissed, because she sensed new trouble.

"While we were chit chatting about your boobs..."

She hit his arm. "Rossi!"

"Okay, okay... I told him you're mine and only I'm allowed to touch you. Better?"

"Just tell me what's wrong."

"Okay, he told me that last night he saw a couple in a white Cadillac. The man bought beer and water and the woman looked like you... well, quite wrecked. Anyway, he sold them something to drink and they drove away, but half an hour later, he saw a police cars rushing down the highway and later when a cop stopped to buy a coffee, he told him that... and now listen very carefully... an idiot hit a police car with his white Cadillac. No one got hurt, but the driver and the lady in the passengers seat were both drunk and sit now in jail."

"In jail? But how..."

"Don't ask me... I only know I'll kill that jackass with my bare hands, if the car is severely damaged! So the taxi I called will take us to the next police station where your friend Gideon and Stacy..."

"Tracy."

"That's what I said... where Tracy and Gideon are waiting for someone to bail them out."

* * *

**15 minutes later **

The taxi stopped in front of the police station and Erin and David climbed out. After Rossi had paid the driver, Erin gave him a suspicious look.

"Where did you get the money from?"

"From Amos," Rossi answered nonchalantly.

"When we asked him for a call, he wanted your Rolex and later he gave you a cigar and the money for a taxi? What did you do to him?"

Smiling deviously, Rossi leaned in and whispered into her ear, "You don't want to know."

Rossi and Erin entered and had instantly everybody's attention. The station was deserted and there were just three pairs of eyes that checked them curiously.

"Busy weekend, Boss," the youngest cop behind the counter next to the entrance door said and then his eyes were refocused on the Superman comic in his hands.

"Seems so," the oldest policeman agreed and rose from his comfortable position behind his desk. The third one sat behind the second desk, chewing a bubblegum and reading the newspaper. A cultural trio in perfect peace, Erin thought.

"We're sorry to interrupt, but we believe our friends could be here... in custody," Rossi started.

"Your friends?"

"Yes, Captain. A young woman and a man... Sta... Tracy... Miller and Jason Gideon."

"I see..." the captain nodded slowly. "We have two people here... drunk driving and they hit one of our two police cars... police cars are rare around here, you know."

Erin narrowed her eyes, thinking everybody in this area was mad or she was still drunk.

"There's my purse!" she said, pointing at the Captain's desk.

"That's yours? We found it in the car and the young lady claimed it wasn't hers."

"Could I please get it back?" Erin asked, already thinking of what to say when he refused to do so.

"Sure... I hope you don't mind that we had to search it. We were looking for the guys ID's..." The Captain gave her the purse with a knowing smile. Curiously Rossi bent over Erin's shoulder when she opened the purse to check the contents. Immediately knowing what the policeman was referring to, Erin closed it quickly, waiting for one of Rossi's dirty comments.

"You know you won't get away with that," Rossi said lowly. "So much for calling me a..."

"Shut up and don't you dare to look into my purse again!" Erin spat and cleared her throat. "Can we see our friends now?"

"Sure. Follow me, please."

* * *

"Gideon behind bars!" Rossi laughed. "That my old eyes have to see this..."

Gideon lay on the small bed in his cell and stared at the ceiling. "Why me?" he groaned, without moving. "Give him a cell far away from mine!" he told the ceiling.

"Your friend here isn't arrested," the Captain informed him.

"Did you search him?" Rossi asked.

"The whole procedure," Gideon said and finally sat up, but his facial expression became dark when he saw Erin standing at the bars, watching him with growing uneasiness.

"How are you?" she asked sheepishly and blushed when his knowing eyes roamed her appearance.

"I guess better than you... Erin, how could you?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but..."

"What are you apologizing for?" Rossi interrupted her. "I didn't know the two of you got married!"

"You know no shame, Rossi, don't you?" Gideon asked. He had risen from his uncomfortable spot and stood now face to face with Rossi, only bars between them. "You're lucky I'm in here! Otherwise I'd..."

"I'm shaking in my shoes," Rossi returned.

The men kept bantering while the Captain watched them with growing interest. Erin could see the brain cells in his head working, as he tried to grasp the background story of the argument.

"SHUT UP!"

"What was that?" Erin asked startled and turned.

"That's your other friend... the girl. She insisted on getting a cell as far away from him as possible. Cute thing, but she's a little unstable. Was pretty drunk."

"LET ME GO AND CALL THE GUYS WITH THE WHITE JACKETS FOR THESE FREAKS!"

"You know now what I mean?" the Captain asked Erin who suddenly had bad conscience, because she was the one who had made the young woman drunk. Erin took the man's elbow and led him away from the cell. Addressing him in a low voice she asked, "Captain, can we get them out? I can explain what happened and I'm sure..."

"Well, they couldn't identify themselves... and... since they hit our car, they won't get away without charges."

"You son of bitch won't tell me..."

Worried, Erin looked at Rossi and Gideon who were still yelling at each other. The whole thing was just embarrassing and she had to bring them out of here, before the Captain would learn every unnecessary detail of the last night. The first move was to bring the policeman somewhere where he couldn't listen to Rossi and Gideon.

"I see..." she straightened her back, fixed the collar of her blouse so that she showed off a plunging neckline that caught every man's attention, and put on her best smile. "Captain... why don't we talk somewhere where they don't disturb us..."

"Well..." he gave her hesitating glance, causing her to lean in closer. His eyes unconsciously moved where they were supposed to look at and when he swallowed hard, she sensed she was about to win.

"Oh come on, Captain... you're in charge here, don't you?" she licked her upper lip. "I like man in charge."

Encouraged by her smile, he nodded, grinning. "Well...why not?"

"Oh and Captain... could you do me another favor?"

* * *

"I can't believe she did that..." Rossi barked, uselessly tearing at the door to his cell. Gideon, who lay on his bed one cell next to Rossi's, laughed.

"Now you know, why I do tend to forgive for everything she does. She always makes me laugh."

"Shut up, Gideon! Erin, come back in here and tell this cop to set me free!"

* * *

One hour later the Captain and Erin returned. Rossi rose from his bed and glared darkly at her. Apparently she had found her make up kit between the other interesting stuff in her purse and a barrette. She had pinned up her hair and had removed every trace of last night from her face. Erin Strauss looked like her old self, including the arrogant smile.

"I see you found your bra," he commented grumpily, as she leaned against the bars and smiled at him, caressing the cold metal with her fingertips.

"Are you sure, you don't want to keep him, Jim?" she asked sweetly without taking her eyes from Rossi. "He can be quite entertaining when he talks about his tales with the FBI when he was still young and black-haired."

"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for tales."

"May I?" she asked, pointing at the keys in Jim's hand.

"If you want to..."

"That's one of her fantasies, you know..." Rossi said sarcastically. "Holding me as her personal slave. I think it turns her on."

"Keeping you behind bars, far away from me, is certainly one of my dreams," she answered and opened Gideon's cell.

"We can go?" Jason asked the policeman.

"Yes, get out of here."

"And the charges?"

"No charges... ask Erin. She has a very... convincing way with men."

"We know that," Rossi mumbled, as he left his cell and grabbed Erin's elbow to force her with him.

"Hey!" Jim yelled after him. "What about the kiddo in the other cell?"

* * *

"Here's your car," Captain Jim said, as he, Rossi, and Gideon reached the back of the building. "Broken axle."

"Oh shit!" Rossi tore at his hair. "I can't believe it. Gideon, you'll pay for this!"

"Come on, it's just a car! Your bigger problem is your girlfriend, in case Erin can't calm her down."

Rossi waved dismissively. "Who cares for the chick... it's not my car!"

* * *

"Nothing you say or do will make me feel better!" Tracy yelled at Erin. They were standing in the narrow private bathroom of Captain Jim. Tracy had just washed her face and was now brushing her long hair with Erin's hair brush.

"Oh please... did nobody ever tell you, not to drink so much? It's hardly my fault when you don't know your boundaries!" Erin said, a little annoyed. The hairbrush ended against her stomach and Erin had to hold her breath.

"You did only did that, because you wanted to ruin our date!"

"Nooo," Erin lied. "Look, I know this sounds strange for you, but David and I... we just... look..."

"Oh, shut up!"

Tracy turned on her heels and left the bathroom with Erin on her heels.

* * *

"Tracy!" Erin followed the young woman outside, but froze when she saw Gideon and Rossi arguing right in front of the police station.

"Forget it, Rossi, this isn't about the car and you know it..." Gideon pushed Rossi backwards.

"Of course, it is about the car," Rossi replied and pushed Gideon a bit harder.

"Boys," she mumbled, stressed out, wondering when they would start a real fist fight.

"You're just angry, because you know, she'll never be yours, no matter how hard you try..."

Rossi grabbed Gideon's collar. "I'm really sick of you and your holier than God behavior! You just don't have the guts to go after her like a real man and you blame me for doing it. What do you want from her? An engraved invitation with the plea to fuck her as gently as possible?"

"What is this? Another David Rossi rule... Maybe No. 72... Rossi shoots the birds, while others just watch them?"

"Stop it now!" Erin yelled. "You know who's sick? I'm sick of both of you! I'm sick of your childish behavior! I'm sick of this day, of this fucking car and I'm even sick of fucking the two of you! Do whatever you want, but I'll go home now!"

Dumbfounded Rossi released Gideon's collar and watched Erin vanishing inside the police station.

"Now that's a first," Rossi said after one minute of silence.

"I think, she just realized the two of you are pigs," Tracy commented dryly.

"Hey Stacy..." Rossi greeted her. "How do you feel?"

"Just perfect..." she hissed. "And it's Tracy, you jackass!"

Gideon looked from Tracy to Rossi and back. The young woman looked rather pissed and he had no intention to get drawn into this argument. "You know what? I'll go in there and talk to Erin... and you two can talk this out."

"You won't..." Rossi said sternly. "I know what you want to do and it's not going to work."

"I just want to talk to her. Do you have any idea what she's capable of when she's pissed like this?"

"What can she so? Call a SWAT team?"

Gideon gave him a smile. "If you had worked with her in the last ten years, you wouldn't have to ask that question."

Gideon turned, heading toward the police station.

"Gideon," Rossi said calmly.

"Yep?" He stopped and turned.

"Just for old time's sake." Without further warning, Rossi lifted his clenched fist and stroke out, hitting Gideon's nose. Gideon stumbled backwards.

"Fuck!" he yelled and covered his nose with his hand. He tasted his own blood, looked at his blood-spattered hand and struck back. Rossi bent quickly aside, and one second later he knew he was in big shit. Behind him, he heard a body dropping.

"Don't tell me..." Rossi started, praying for patience.

"Damn it... why did you move?"

Rossi turned and bend down next to Tracy who lay on the ground, unconscious.

_~tbc~_


	7. Chapter 7

This is the last chapter of "A night like this". Thanks to everybody who read, alerted and took the time to comment on this story. I had a great time writing it and I hope you enjoyed the plot.

**A night like this - Seven **

**One hour later **

Even watching the doctor fixing Jason's nose physically hurt Erin and worsened her already guilt driven conscience.

"I'll never drink one sip of alcohol again," she silently told herself, trying to ignore Gideon's small scream of pain.

"It's not as bad as it looks like," the nurse told her with a smile. She was african american, about 40 year old woman with friendly eyes. "Your friend will look better than ever when he's restored."

"I hope you're right."

"Aren't you curios how your other friend feels?" the nurse asked.

"Actually, no..." Erin answered dryly. She didn't even want to think about Tracy.

"Strange, she said the same thing when I asked her, if she wanted to know how the guy in here is... are you sure, you know what you're doing?"

"Excuse me?" Erin arched her eyebrow.

"Never sleep with two men when they each other too well... Sorry, but I heard the other guy and the kid arguing about it."

"I haven't slept with both of them... at least not in the last 20 years," Erin spat, asking herself why she was explaining herself to a complete stranger. "How's the girl?"

"Better... but still a bit shaken. These young chickens just don't know what they can stomach." The nurse shook the head and left the examination room. A few minutes later the doctor was done with Gideon and lef as well.

"I go and have a look at your friend now... though she doesn't look as bad as you."

"Fact is, she won't try to win a beauty contest in the near future!" Gideon joked, checking his appearance in the mirror at the wall.

"Probably not," the doctor shrugged unmoved before he closed the door behind him.

"I'm so sorry," Erin said to Jason, as she helped him to fix the collar of his shirt. "I don't know how to apologize..." she sighed unhappily.

"Don't..." he said and took her trembling hands into his. "Whatever you did had nothing to do with the fact that Rossi tried to break my nose again! At least this time he didn't get away with everything..."

"Jason..." she started, ready to admit it was indeed her fault.

"Don't... After all, I can thank myself for my broken nose.. I should have never allowed you to use me to get back Rossi..."

"But..." she tried object.

"No... Let's face it... you came to that restaurant to make me stay at the BAU... by all means and with everything you had to offer... which is actually more than I can handle," he paused and sighed. "But when he showed up with that kid you couldn't help yourself and so you tried to pull a fast one on him, but Erin..." he took her chin and made her face him. "It's the oldest story in the book and it never works. You know that, don't you?"

She nodded slowly, without losing a word. She hated it when he was right, but he belonged to the few people in this world to tell her when she was wrong, because he never judged her.

"So, when he returns to the BAU next week, you'll have to find a way to deal with him. Otherwise the two of you will kill each other sooner or later... or even worse, you'll kill other people in the process. It's not worth it... unless there's more behind your relationship with him than the wish you fuck each other senseless."

"I wish you would describe it a little differently..."

"And how?" he asked, knowing she wouldn't answer.

"You know what bothers me the most?" she asked instead.

"Tell me."

"That there are great men like you out there while I can't seem to resist this jackass."

Gideon laughed wholeheartedly. "That's my girl! And don't worry, you won't get rid off me so easily... I'll check on you from time to time..."

"You won't... you'll go and stay away from me as far as possible." she reached out to touch his cheek. "Maybe in another life..."

"Heaven help me... and now let's go." He kissed her cheek, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pushed her out of the room.

* * *

Rossi already sat on a chair in the waiting area when Erin and Jason returned. His mood was on a low point. The car as mess, the girl beaten up, Erin and Gideon probably ready to kick his ass...

"How's our youngest patient doing?" Gideon asked, hardly facing Rossi, because he wanted to keep himself from laughing. Yep, Rossi looked ridiculous, when he was pissed. Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all.

"She's still in there..." Rossi answered grumpily. "Her father won't be pleased to hear where she's spent most time of this morning... and last night."

"Her father?" Erin asked, curiously.

"The same one who owns the car... my publisher."

"But didn't she say she's an interior?" Erin started laughing.

"She is, but she is working for her father... she just never tells anyone who she is, because she wants to be recognized for her work," he gave Erin a look. "Not her position."

"How humble..." Erin scoffed, who had never understood why people didn't use their assets when they had them. "Fact is, the car is a mess and his daughter beaten up. I'm sure he'll love your next book..."

"Gideon beat her up!" Rossi pointed at Jason who shook his head in defense.

"Not my fault. You avoided me like a coward!"

"Stop it!" Erin said. "That won't help."

"Don't worry about me making my living..." Rossi rose, stroking his beard. "I own enough money and I don't need to publish more books. Actually, I don't need anyone to help me."

"Your readers will be eternally grateful to hear that," Gideon commented dryly.

"Maybe I should take a look at her," Erin said. "Maybe she has to stay..."

She turned to leave, but Gideon followed her with quick steps and stopped her. Rossi observed with a crooked eyebrow that Gideon leaned into her, whispered something in her ear that first made her eyes widen and then caused her to laugh.

Damn them and their way of making him feel like fool. As a response Erin kissed his mouth and caressed his cheek.

Her mouth formed the words "Thanks you" and then she turned on her heels.

"What did you tell her?" Rossi asked, pretending to be amused.

"None of your business," Gideon answered. "And now call a taxi! Somehow you have to bring the girls back to town."

"Why do I have to bring them back?" Rossi asked, suspiciously. "What about you?"

"I won't go with you... my demands have been fully covered last night. I need some peace now."

"Yeah, sure..." Rossi mumbled. "You go into hiding and I have to endure their rants. Nice plan of yours."

* * *

**Two hours later **

The taxi stopped in front of the Italian restaurant where the four had started their journey the night before. Erin climbed out the car and Rossi followed her, telling the driver to wait.

"Erin, my wallet, please.. and my cell."

"Your wallet?" she asked.

"Yes, I gave it to you last night, after we left the restaurant and you put it in your purse. She opened her purse and searched for Rossi's possessions.

"Here," she said after one minute of intensive rummaging around her purse. She placed both items in his hand.

"Thank you. A pity Tracy didn't want to come with us..."

"Actually, I don't miss her," Erin answered crisply. "I wish I never met her... or you. Doesn't it scare you that she swore revenge on you?"

"No, it doesn't... you don't scare me, why should she scare me?"

"Because Daddy can make you look like a fool?" she asked back.

"Daddy doesn't scare me either... so..." he gave her a smile. "When will we repeat this?"

"Never, not, if I can avoid it," Erin answered coolly. "And first thing tomorrow morning will be to call the Director and tell him to recycle some other agent." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Oh, come on, Erin... don't be like this," Rossi closed the distance between them. "You had fun last night..."

"I have a headache today. That's what counts for me." Their eyes met and both held the gaze, neither of them willing to break the contact.

"You know, you don't stand a chance... I decided to come back to the BAU and I will. There's nothing you can do to change that."

"Why do you want to come back anyway? You can tell the story of the bored author who wants to help the FBI as often as you wish, I don't buy it."

He smiled deviously. "You're always so... incredulous. Maybe I just missed you."

She returned the smile with glittering eyes. "You've always been a poor example of a good liar."

"So where do we go from here?" he asked, the hands in his pockets.

"I go home now." She pulled out her car key and dangled it in front of his nose. "Go back into your taxi and think of a way to explain your publisher why his daughter looks like Mike Tyson after a lost fight."

After a quick twinkle, she turned on her heels.

"Hey Strauss..." Rossi yelled after her. "Why don't I send the taxi away and you and I go to your place to try that wicked little thing you carry around in your purse? I still have some condoms left..."

"Forget it!" she answered without bothering to face him.

"Okay... so my place."

"Fuck off, Rossi."

"In this case, just call me, when you have my new badge... I look forward to it."

He laughed and remained in the deserted parking lot, watching her as she drove away. Yeah, he looked forward to Quantico, the bullpen and her. It'd really been too long.

**~The End~ **


End file.
